Rally in Turkey turns violent as student march nears AKP HQ

hurriyetdailynews.com

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

A “battle” broke out between students and police in Ankara on Wednesday after students tried to march to the city’s headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

The students gathered in front of the Middle East Technical University, or METU, to protest “the Justice and Development Party administration and attacks on students from police forces who are under their control,” according to a press release distributed by the students Monday.

Around 500 students from METU, Hacettepe and Ankara Universities gathered in front of METU’s main gate after lunch to march four kilometers to the AKP’s headquarters.

The exits to the university campus were blocked by approximately 2,000 police officers who made it impossible for the students to leave the campus. The police could not step foot on campus without consent from the rector. Read more…

Students clash with police in Turkey

calgaryherald.com

AFP January 5, 2011

ANKARA – Turkish police Wednesday used water cannons and tear gas to stop hundreds of university students from staging an anti-government demonstration.

Some 500 students had gathered at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara for an intended march to the headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party to denounce recent police crackdowns on student protests and demand university reform.

A large force of riot police blocked the gates of the university to prevent the march, prompting hails of stones and plastic bottles from the left-wing students, who brandished a giant banner reading « We are rebelling. »

The security forces responded with pressurised water and then used tear gas to keep the students inside the campus.

At least one person, a cameraman, was injured in the head by a stone, according to an AFP correspondent. Read more …

Heurts entre étudiants et police en Turquie

Europe1.fr

5 janvier 2011

Une violente confrontation a eu lieu mercredi à Ankara entre la police et environ 500 étudiants qui manifestaient contre le gouvernement islamo-conservateur turc devant l’entrée du campus de l’Université technique du moyen-orient (ODTÜ). Au moins une personne, un journaliste, a été blessé dans les incidents. La colère étudiante monte depuis novembre dernier, lorsque 18 étudiants ont été condamnés à 15 mois de prison avec sursis pour avoir manifesté contre le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 6 janvier 2011.

Publié dans émeutes, riots